Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Had a craving for more cinnamon rolls yesterday and needed to take a dessert to a family of my friends who had a loved one recently pass from this life. It was a good excuse to make some more. Received great compliments and a request for a copy of the recipe. So, after nearly 40 years of hoarding it, I've decided to come clean and share. It really is good and has garnered 40 years of compliments. If you try it, perhapsyou too, can enjoy these yummy sweet treats and receive compliments of your own. Let me know how it goes for you!
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Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 pint sour cream or buttermilk
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup butter, divided
6 large eggs
2 tablespoons dried yeast
6-7 cups flour
½ cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon sugar: Combine about 2 cups of sugar with 4 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon and mix thoroughly.

Icing Glaze: 4 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons (probably much more), lemon juice, but add a little at a time, mixing well after each addition, till it's the consistency to drizzle.

DOUGH CONSTRUCTION:

Warm sour cream, or buttermilk, with ½ cup butter till butter is melted. In a 2 cup measuring cup add 1 tablespoon sugar to warm water, sprinkle yeast over water, then add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of sugar over yeast. Mix sugar, water, and yeast well. In a large mixing bowl, add 6 cups flour, remainder of sugar, and salt. Mix till blended. Next, add all liquid ingredients and mix gently till blended. Add eggs one at a time, and mix thoroughly. With kneading hook on mixer, knead mixture thoroughly for 5 to 7 minutes. If you need to do this by hand, use a very large bowl, and knead the mixture in the bowl with a wooden spoon. If dough is too runny, add the additional cup of flour. However—dough should be VERY soft, not stiff--almost pourable.

Place dough in a LARGE bowl, well greased with shortening. Spray top of dough with Pam Spray and cover with plastic wrap before placing in a warm spot. Allow to rise multiple times, always punching the dough down when it has doubled in bulk. (More realistically, I rap the bottom of the bowl on the counter top to begin the release of built up carbon dioxide, then, using a very freshly washed finger, pull the dough from the sides of the bowl toward the center at about one inch intervals until it's almost back to the original bulk. Then I recover it with plastic wrap. When you can smell the yeasty, almost fruity aroma indicating that fermentation has begun, the dough will be ready to work with.


NOTE: You can put the covered dough in the refrigerator at this point, if you won't have time to complete the task. However, if you do, please be sure your bowl is large enough to allow the doubling of the dough without spilling over the edges. I know from past experience that this dough, once begun, loves to continue to "grow". If you do refrigerate the dough, however, you'll need to get it out to warm up an hour or two before you plan to work it into rolls.

On a well floured surface, take ¼ to 1/3 of the dough and form a loose ball. Knead it slightly with the flour and then, with a flour dusted rolling pin, roll it out in a rectangle until it is about 1/8 to ¼” thick.

With a pastry brush, generously spread melted butter over the entire surface, then sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Beginning on a long side, roll the dough, jelly-roll style, then slice into about ¾” to 1” pieces. Place these cinnamon rolls, flat side down, on a well greased cookie sheet or in a cake pan, casserole dish—whatever you have--about 1/2” apart. If you crowd them all together, you'll get weird landscape looking cinnamon rolls. If you want normal shaped rolls, place them at least 1/2" to 1" apart so they can expand without curling crazily out of the middle while rising. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for approximately 1 hour. When they're about twice original size, remove plastic and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

While baking, mix together Icing Glaze ingredients enough to make a somewhat runny glaze. As soon as rolls are removed from the oven, drizzle glaze over the top. Serve warm, and everyone will thank you! If you let them eat any of them.

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